


Metal Clan + Old Wounds Rewrite

by zhenyilani



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Family Drama, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-15 12:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17528462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zhenyilani/pseuds/zhenyilani
Summary: I know a couple people have done rewrites already, but I still feel like something is missing. It couldn't be just Suyin's lack of self-accountability to cause Lin to hold such a huge, long grudge. So I added a few flashbacks that could have contributed to the fallout. Trigger Warning at the Beginning of Chapter 6. It will be the only "bad" chapter. Read at your own discretion.





	1. The Metal Clan, Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I am in the process of cross posting some of my stuff from fanfictiondotnet, so I hope you enjoy. :)))

A potty break for Naga, that was all that they stopped for, and now the Avatar is playing fetch with her dear pet.

"While you're playing fetch, four of the most dangerous criminals are hunting you down. We should get moving," Lin said impatiently, her arms folded, lips pursed in annoyance as the avatar launches the leather ball over a mountain pass with the assistance of her earthebending.

"Relax! We just got here. Besides, no one knows where I am except us!" Korra replied shrugging it off as Naga returned, panting, tongue out, with her tail wagging. "I think she wants you to throw it for her," Korra replied.

"I'll pass, thanks." Lin replied looking down at the saliva-and-grass-coated leather ball.  _Teenagers, think they're invincible. Think a couple of the world's most dangerous criminals are no big deal. What naïve stupidity they possess! If only they knew…_

Just then, Asami emerged from the Republic City Police Air Ship, having given her to Tenzin and the airbenders to use to get to the Northern Air Temple. "We just got a call from the radio about another airbender!" she exclaimed practically overcome with excitement.

"Finally! Where are they?" Korra asked eagerly.

"A city called Zaofu, the home of the Metal Clan," Asami answered.

Lin nearly gagged on air at the sound of that wretched place.

"You know the place?" Korra asked noticing the Police Chief's reaction.

"Uh… Never been there…"  _But that doesn't mean I don't it... and who rules it._  "But I don't want you going there! I would rest a lot easier if you were back at Republic City."  _Where I can keep the most naïve and stupid teenager that I have ever known, now grow, from encouraging you to make even more reckless and impulsive decisions. …Like extending this potty break for a stupid game of fetch that could very possibly give our location away if there's a village beyond that mountain where Naga could be spotted by somebody._

Korra stood her ground, even more stubbornly than an earthbender. "Sorry, if there's an airbender in Zaofu, then that's where we are going next," Korra replied firmly.

Lin glared at the Avatar as she reboarded the Police airship with Asami _. I thought water was supposed to be the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes were supposed to be capable of adapting to many things. Great Uncle Iroh, why did you lie to me?_

* * *

Zaofu looked exactly how it did in the drawings Lin received decades ago when some architect she had never met asked for her opinion on his designs.

During the day, the 'protective domes' were left open giving an aerial view of the city that resembled a cluster of lotus flowers floating together on a lake that was comprised of the expansive, green plains of the Southern Earth Kingdom. The view was peaceful, almost serene, but at night, everything was different.

The protective domes were closed, to resemble cages, not buds or blossoms in Lin's eyes. As Lin saw it, the leader of the Metal Clan was not concerned with the safety of her people, but only her control on them. The nearest humans to the city were the waterbenders of the Swamp: isolationists unconcerned with the affairs of the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the rest of the world. They would never attack the Metal Clan. The next nearest civilization was Gaoling, a wealthy trading town where Lin's family lived for centuries on a grand estate with expansive gardens, and high walls built not to keep the villagers out, but the pesky daughter of the master of the house in. The last threat Lin could think of was several days away by airship in Ba Sing Se. The Earth Queen was the only person in the entire Earth Kingdom who may have trouble with Zaofu's self-declared autonomy but if she hadn't attacked in the 30 years since it's founding, she probably wouldn't attack in the next 30 years from the date.

The domes were nothing but a waste of platinum and money.

"Woah! An entire city made of metal! Wohoho! You should feel right at home, Beifong!" Bolin exclaimed.

"Hmph," Lin grumbled seated as far away from the windows as she could while still able to keep her eye on the Avatar and her friends in case anything truly bad happened.

"Aren't you coming?" Asami asked Lin just before disembarking the airship with her friends.

"What's there to see? It's metal, big whoop." Lin replied curtly. "Just find the airbender so we can get moving and don't tell ANYONE I am here," Lin snapped.  _Right now I really don't need a family reunion._

"Fine. You got it, Chief Crankypants." Korra muttered following her friends down the metal stairs onto the one of the airship landing pads of the city.

* * *

In the next hour, Lin had moved from the bench where she sat to the window of the airship to examine the state of the city. Four domes had been added since she last read the daily Zaofu newspaper that she had delivered to her flat in Republic City. The City Hall had grown a tall spire likely to receive all of the radio transmissions from around the world. Lost in her thoughts, Lin didn't notice the Avatar's return with her friends, until the teenager spoke.

"We found out why you were so against coming here!" Korra announced. Lin frowned when in place of the rumored earthbender the Krew had returned with her estranged half sister. "Why didn't you ever tell me you had a sister?" Korra demanded.

"Because my personal life is none of your business, besides, what does it matter? She's a half-sister." Lin replied turning away from them again to return her gaze to the platinum city.

"Same mom, different dads, so what? We're blood Lin, and after thirty years, the least you could do is say hello," Suyin said warmly.

The false compassion in her voice was infuriating, Lin knew that tone her half sister used. It was the same tone that convinced her grandfathers that she was innocent. It was the same tone that got her sweets and fried food on the weekends. It was the same tone that got her "breaks" from training. It was the same tone that convinced everyone that she didn't need to start working when she was sixteen. And it was the same tone that convinced their mother to release her thieving little friends from prison.

"I have nothing to say to you"  _that I probably haven't said already_ , Lin replied bitterly.

"You two haven't spoken in thirty years? How come?" Korra asked.

"Ask her, I've tried!" Suyin replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Oh don't put that on me! You're the one who tore our family apart!" Lin replied feeling rage and pain knot itself into a pit in her stomach.

"And you've done a bang up job keeping it that way!" Suyin replied smugly and sarcastically.

"You haven't changed one bit, have you?" Lin asked.  _You're still the same selfish, lying, impulsive-_

"Look, we can stay here arguing about the past all day, but that is not the reason the Avatar came here," Suyin interjected.

_-evasive-_

"Korra, my daughter is thrilled to meet you!" Suyin informed the Avatar.

_Spirits! Opal is the new airbender?_

* * *

**Flashback:**

_"Leave of absence?! You can't turn in a leave of absence!" the water tribe councilman yelled rejecting Lin's paperwork._

_"I must! I have a duty," twenty-eight-year-old Lin began to protest._

_"Your duty is to the city!" the water tribe councilman shot back._

_Lin closed her eyes, her nose scrunching up in fury, the scars on her face reddening. "My duty is to the world! My husband is the LAST AIRBENDER! I can't risk continuing to work for the duration of this pregnancy! This baby could be-"_

_"I am well aware of what the baby COULD be and what it could not be and if it is just an earthbender-"_

_"Then it's life is worth less than if it were an airbender?" Lin interrupted angrily._

_"Councilman Ranok," Tenzin said softly, his smooth, low voice silencing his wife and calming her simultaneously. "If you decline our Police Chief's request for a rather brief leave of absence for the remainder of her pregnancy and two months after the child's birth, then don't be surprised to find among the next stack of forms submitted to your office, her resignation… and mine." Tenzin said standing up, looking at Lin with nothing but love and support in his eyes. Lin let out a sigh of relief. At least the council should be assured she wasn't lazy. In fact, she was far from lazy, having serves them since the young age of sixteen, only ever taking time off to care for Suyin..._

_Lin planned on just not showing up for the last few months while Tenzin urged her to go not exempt herself from the formal procedure to take maternity leave to ensure the new councilmen would take her seriously. Since they all were all so new to their positions, they had to be careful and monitor their approval ratings._

* * *

"Lin, your niece is the new airbender! Isn't that amazing?" Korra asked.

"Yeah. Terrific," Lin replied frowning.  _It wasn't supposed to be this way!_

* * *

**Flashback:**

_That afternoon, Lin received a package from the relatively new city of Zaofu containing a vinyl record. With a knot in her stomach and shaking hands, Lin placed the record onto the turntable of the phonograph and gently dropped the needle onto the edge._

_"Heya Lin, my secretary here in Zaofu read the newspaper from Republic City and told me. I must say, I'm impressed with you and Floaty. I honestly didn't think Twinkletoes Junior had balls with which to bang you, hehe. I mean, I've never seen them and you have to see to believe... hehe... geddit, Lin? Geddit? But in all seriousness, I am glad that he does, because now I am get to be granny to a little Airbaby! I still can't believe that we will officially have a fancy dancer in the family. Until you reply to this letter, in print or recording and and tell me his name, I'll just refer to the future Arrowhead as 'Chrome-Dome the third, Future leader of the Air Acolytes, and heir to the Master's Seat in the Meditation Pagoda on that tiny, spirit-forsaken island'. Well, that's all, Linny. Wish you good health and good luck in this next chapter of your life. I hope for your sake, that this kid doesn't turn out like you or me, though I doubt he will, since he's got Aang and Tenzin's peace-loving blood flowing through his tiny veins already." came Toph's voice through the horn of the phonograph._


	2. The Metal Clan, Part 2

Reluctantly, Lin joined them and ventured into the city of Zaofu for the first time riding a modern train past metal streets, metal buildings, metal statues and metal fountains that very surprisingly didn't spew liquid metal mercury. It was a forty-minute ride through three of the domed neighborhoods of the City to get to the Beifong Estate in Zaofu. Their first destination on their tour of the expansive property was a metal pit with four metal columns and two youths kicking and punching a metal disc towards each other, ricocheting it off the metal walls and columns of the pit.

"These are my two youngest, Wing and Wei. They're playing a game called Power Disc. They invented it all on their own!" Suyin informed the group with a beaming smile on her face.

Wing shot the disc at Wei who redirected it, ricocheting it off a few columns. Wing leapt to intercept the disc but fell just short, allowing it to slam into a net with a loud buzz.

"Oh nice power, Wei!" Suyin yelled.

"Ha! Wing goes down!" Wei yelled pumping his fist in the air as his identical twin brother pounded his fists on the ground in defeat.

"I'm so proud of those two." Suyin said quietly waving the group to follow her through the rest of the property.

_Here she is, flaunting her children like trophies on a shelf. They're not even decent benders. Wing is slow, and Wei is basic. The game isn't even original, just a modified version of airball. Tenzin and I created an air and metal hybrid version of the original game when we were younger that incorporated discs with angled blades that we both could bend at each other. Su probably built the court and told them about how we played and let them add it. How could she tell everyone her boys created this? Oh right! Suyin always lies._

* * *

Their next stop was a courtyard decorated with an assortment of what appeared to be clumps of scrap metal scavenged from the aftermath of an explosion in an industrial building. In the center of it, a lone metalbender curled the end of one of his incredibly abstract creations.

"Huan, I'd like you to meet the Avatar and her friends, and your Aunt Lin," Suyin said interrupting the boy's work.

"Nice to meet you!" Korra said cheerfully.

"Hey," he replied disrespectfully keeping his back to the group.

Lin would have smacked the boy if he were hers. A smack would have been merciful compared to how Lao and Poppy treated her when they were teaching her how to live in high society.

"Wow, that's a really nice…. Banana? Yes, very—very lifelike!" Bolin stammered in a foolish attempt to compliment the boy's work.

Huan whipped around almost violently, clearly offended, as if his own behavior wasn't already offensive. "It's not a banana! It was inspired by Harmonic Convergents; represents the dawning of a New Age. OBVIOUSLY!"

Lin rolled her eyes.  _And there he'd receive a lashing for snapping at guests. It doesn't matter if they're daft, impoverished, intelligent, wealthy, or simply family. Guests deserve respect._

"Oh! Yeah! No… uh… I can—I can toally see that!" Bolin stuttered. He made a frame with his fingers and held it up to the statue. "I can! Oh, let me stand here. Yes, I can see that now. Yes. Thank you!" Bolin added as he began to walk off with Asami and Mako, following Suyin. "Banana! I mean, that's a Banana right?"

Finally, they reached a girl sitting on a bench reading.

"And this is my daughter, Opal," Suyin said.

The girl looked up. Lin had to admit she was lovely. Lin could already tell by her posture and composure that she would become an excellent airbender. There was no maliciousness in her wide, green eyes.

"Wow! Avatar Korra!" Opal exclaimed standing up and bowing lightly. "I can't believe you are here! You are SO amazing!" Opal exclaimed, clearly starstruck.

Lin nearly gagged _. And incredibly naive._  Lin thought about Opal.  _Maybe once we can get her away from Su, I can teach her a bit about how the real world operates, and how incredibly misleading the media can be._

"It's great to meet you Opal," Korra said with a friendly smile.

"Opal. That is a beautiful name!" Bolin breathed.

Opal blushed and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "Thanks."

"I'm Bolin!" the teenager informed her, extending a hand.

"Opal," she replied shaking it nervously. "But…. Uh.. you already knew that."

Lin could taste the vomit in her mouth. A sudden wave of protectiveness overcame Lin that instant, as she wanted to protect her niece from the teenage boy who was just as young, dumb, and naive as she was being.

Korra glanced between the two with amused curiosity.

 _That is enough!_  Lin decided trudging towards the group to remind them of her presence. "Great! We've found the airbender! Now we can leave! Let's take her back to the airship and get out of this wretched place!" Lin growled reaching for the girl as Suyin stepped between.

"And the woman apparently trying to abduct you is your Aunt Lin!" Suyin said to Opal with a perfectly cool expression.

The girl's eyes lit up. "Really?! Aunt Lin? I've always wanted to meet you! My mom has told so many stories about you!"

 _Great!_  "I'm sure she has." Lin replied skeptically, her eyes narrowing at Suyin.  _What game are you playing this time?_

Opal looked confused and something else, maybe hurt, but it didn't matter. Lin would toughen her up and teach her how to read people soon enough, even if it meant fighting Tenzin who would be taking over most of her training. She may be an airbender, but she was still a Beifong, and Lin would not let the girl become another disgrace to their family name.

"So, I've set all of you up in the guest houses while Korra trains Opal," Suyin said breaking Lin's train of thought.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I was hoping she could train with the rest of the airbenders at the Northern Air Temple," Korra replied.

"That sounds amazing!" Opal exclaimed.

"Nonsense! This is where Opal's home and family are! You can train her here!"

"I guess I could help her get started!"

"Absolutely not! We're leaving!" Lin interrupted her face growing hot with annoyance.

"She's just a little worried because there's a bunch of crazy criminals after me," Korra explained.

_And I don't want to spend another second in a city ruled by a crazy criminal that was exiled from Republic City!_

"If you're concerned about security, don't be. This is the safest city in the world!" Suyin replied. Lin rolled her eyes.  _Only when under attack can a city's defenses be tested and scored just like how only when one is afraid, can one be brave._

"Now I'll see you all at dinner. And come hungry. My chef will blow the taste buds right out of your mouth!" Suyin exclaimed.

"Why do you have such a problem with your sister?" Korra asked. "She seems nice."  _SEEMS! But you don't know; Suyin always lies._  "Come on, we can stay a little while!"

"Fine!" Lin snapped walking towards the guest houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Lin seems salty AF here, it is because she is (we'll find out why when we get to the acupuncture and flashbacks), but she is NOT mean. She could say all of the italics out loud but she doesn't which in my opinion shows that Lin has a great deal of respect for others and incredible self restraint. (Something that I think Korra lacks, as exhibited when Korra calls Lin 'Chief Crankypants' and a 'bitter, lonely woman' to intentionally hurt someone she clearly doesn't understand).


	3. The Metal Clan, Part 3

**Dinner:**

"Tonight, for your dining pleasure, I present a seared wild Kyoshi Elephant Kori, paired with a ginger-infused pea tendril and hibiscus root salad!" Suyin's Chef presented proudly. The heavily tattoed, pieced, big-bellied man with a long beard braided into three ropes looked rather… out of place wearing an apron standing in Suyin's lavish dining room.

"Stunning!" Suyin commented on the presentation of the dish placed in front of her by servers. The chef bowed and took his leave, crossing another man on his way out.

"Sorry, dear! I'm going to have to take dinner in my office. I just had a major breakthrough on the ram station remodel," the rather frazzled-looking middle aged man informed his wife in a hurry, followed by a nearly identical, smooth-faced, younger version of himself carrying a stack of papers.

"Well, don't let me stand in the way of inspiration!" Suyin replied waving to him with a soft smile.

"You're the best!" Baatar yelled running off down the hall.

"That was my brilliant architect of a husband, Baatar, and our eldest son, Junior. He engineers all of my husband's projects."

"Five kids, what a nightmare,"

"No, no. My children are a blessing!" Suyin replied shaking her head before taking a sip of wine.

"Yeah Mom used to say that too, but she never meant it," Lin muttered looking away.

Before anything got too out of hand, Bolin eased the tension. "Mmmm. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical when he said "pea tendrils"," He said with a laugh. "but this is delicious!"

"I know, right. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal in my life." Opal giggled.

Lin frowned. Of course she hasn't. No doubt Suyin coddled her. None of these kids have any idea what the world has to deal with. None of these kids have even the slightest notion of the struggle of those on the streets.

"Oh. I had plenty when Mako and I were living in the streets," Bolin replied nonchalantly as Opal's face dropped in horror. "I mean, you'd be surprised how bad food from a dumpster can be!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Opal said sympathetically.

"You should. You could ask your mom all about it. I'm sure she's had plenty of experience with harbor trash in her pirating days," Lin interrupted quietly.

Suyin shot her a look, but neither Bolin nor Opal heard.

"No, no, it's okay, that's all in the past. Things are great now. I got to be a pro-bender, fought against a dangerous revolution, became  _a mover star_ , and now, I'm helping the Avatar rebuild a whole nation." Bolin said rapidly, trying to ease Opal's nerves.

"Wow. Your life sounds so exciting!" Opal said enviously, folding her hands in her lap.

Lin rolled her eyes and Suyin pretended not to notice.

"So, Korra, how is your search for the new airbenders going?" Suyin asked.

"Honestly, not great. We had to rescue a whole group of them from the Earth Queen who wanted them for some elite division of her army," Korra replied.

"Oh she's horrible! She thinks she can just do whatever she wants!" Suyin replied with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"Sounds familiar," Lin muttered with her lips touching her own glass of wine.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing… Nothing at all," Lin lied glaring at her sister.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 18, Suyin - 12**

_Lin was studying for her final exams for the Police Academy. She only had one more set of procedures to memorize regarding how to handle hostage and ransom situations safely and effective techniques to barter with criminals. She passed the physical exams two years prior and only had left the written exams._

_"Hey, Beifong! Go home! Get some rest and quit worrying. You're going to pass those exams with flying colors. I know it!" her instructor reassured her._

_"Yes Master Fan. I know, I just- I don't want anyone to think that I was given a place on the force just because of my mother's position. I want everyone, including myself to know I earned it," Lin replied with a wide, kind smile._

_"I don't think anyone here could ever doubt your worthiness regardless of your lineage, Beifong. You've been working for this since you were a baby. You deserve it more than anything. Now go home, get some rest. You're done here for today."_

_"Thank you, Master Fan." Lin replied. She packed her books into a shoulder bag and left the Academy section of the Police Station and went down to the underground garage. She smiled as she passed the official, Police Satomobiles on her way to her own that her mother got her for her sixteenth birthday._

_"I'll never be able to drive it, but you will. Now be safe, and don't forget to bring home dumplings EVERY night," Toph had told her before handing over the keys._

_Lin smiled at the memory. She wondered what she would spend the rest of the afternoon doing. She knew the exam wouldn't be too difficult, and Master Fan was right. She was ready. She could go grocery shopping, or visit their neighbor. She could volunteer at the neighborhood earthbending academy for a few hours before dinner. She could visit Tenzin on Air Temple Island. The possibilities were endless in the City. She could-_

_"Su! What are you doing home?" Lin asked as she opened the door finding her twelve-year-old little sister in the living room of their home with two strangers on the couch and an assortment of jewelry that Lin didn't recognize from hers or her mother's wardrobe, and an expensive handbag on the table._

_"Wow! You almost look like a real cop!" Suyin laughed from her place on a chair alone, sitting like a queen on a throne while her two friends shared the couch._

_"You should be in school!" Lin's eyes narrowed, a frown forming on her flawless skin._

_"Oh no, are you going to tell Mom? It's not like she's going to care!" Suyin laughed, glancing sideways at her friends who snickered and swept the jewels into the handbag._

_Lin sighed. She knew Su was right about that bit. Mother was too busy to care. She was always too busy. It seemed like as long as her daughters were still eating and breathing, she was content. It wasn't fair._

* * *

"I mean, just the idea of even having a queen is so outdated! Don't you agree, Korra?" Suyin asked subconsciously staring the young avatar down.

"I haven't really thought about it too much," Korra replied fiddling with her fingers nervously probably thinking about how she used to think Suyin was the 'nice one' of her and Lin.

"Well, you should start. The world is evolving and the Earth Queen can evolve with it or step aside!" Suyin said with a wave of her hand.

"Hey, everyone," Lin said slamming her palms down on the metal dining table, denting the edge of it. "Apparently my little sister is an EXPERT on world affairs now.

"You want to talk about what's really bugging you? Because I'm RIGHT HERE!" Suyin replied slamming one hand on the table, turning on her chair to face the enraged chief of police.

 _Your hypocrisy. Hating on a queen when you're no less an autocrat than she? Your false belief that you're somehow enlightened and are suddenly above everybody?_  "Your uncanny ability to fool to everybody," Lin growled.

Suyin's eyes narrowed dangerously but she didn't say anything. Lin wouldn't back down.

"Well that's a bold accusation!" Korra scolded Lin.

Before the sisters could spear each other through with metal, two newcomers joined the group for dinner.

"Sorry we're late, everyone!" The flamboyant Southern Water Tribe Native apologized loudly as he danced into the room wearing Zaofu fashion, followed by his assistant.

"VARRICK!" Bolin shouted with a little too much excitement.

"What are you doing here?" Asami asked narrowing her eyes with just as much suspicion and unease as Lin was feeling.

"Great question, Asami. I mean what are any of us doing here? Wow, food for thought. Any who, how's our company doing?"

"You mean  _my_  company. Future Industries reverted back to my leadership after  _you_  plotted to abduct the President." Asami answered.

" _Allegedly_  plotted to abduct the President. Never convicted." Varrick replied defensively with his hands up in innocence.

"Uh, that's because you escaped prison," Mako reminded him.

"No, the universe decided to set me free. So, I looked up my old friend Suyin here, pitched her a few ideas, [ _Smacks the table._ ] "and  _bam_! We're in business together!" Varrick informed everyone proudly.

"Varrick's heading up my new technology division." Suyin added.

"I've seen the future, and the future is,  _magnets_! I'm working on a high-speed rail that would revolutionize transportation and shipping as we know it. But that's not all, I'm-," Varrick began to tell everybody.

"All right, enough!" Lin yelled standing up. "I'm trying to keep the Avatar safe and you're harboring a criminal?" she yelled pointing an accusatory finger at her little sister. "What else is new?"

"Ease up, Lin. Sure Varrick's made a few mistakes in his past, but that doesn't mean he should pay for it for the rest of his life. My chef was a pirate, but now he's a culinary master. People change," Suyin said.

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Lin yelled throwing her chair into the far wall as she turned away.

"Lin!" Korra yelled.

"Can I have the rest of your elephant koi?" Bolin called after Lin as she slammed the door behind her with a cable.

As Lin walked back to her assigned guesthouse, she remembered.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 18, Suyin - 12**

_Lin turned her attention to the boys that her little sister brought home with her a little too often. "Where'd you get all that stuff?"_

_"Fell off the back of the truck," one of the boys said standing up._

_"Haha. Likely story. Give me your IDs," Lin ordered._

_"Nice try, Beifong, but you have no authority yet," the boy said walking past Lin. "You can't make us do anything!"_

_"You little-" Lin growled bending the door shut in front of the boy._

_Suyin yanked it open again with her own bending and jumped to her feet always ready for a fight. The younger girl had stronger raw bending, was faster than her sister, and at times, could be smarter._

_"What are you doing hanging out with these losers, Su?" Lin demanded, whirling on her heel to face her little sister._

_"They're my friends and you have no right to call them that!" Suyin replied. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."_

_"Su, stop!" Lin yelled grabbing her sister's wrist._

_Suyin yanked her hand free and bent her metal cuff into a blade, pointing it at her sister's face._

_"Why?" Suyin asked glaring up at her older sister challengingly._

_"Because you have so much potential! You're ruining your life!" Lin replied ignoring the sharp metal in her face, glaring down at her spunky little sister._

_Suyin laughed and lowered her hand, retracting the blade. "At least I have a life!" she laughed walking out the door with her friends._

_As the door closed behind Suyin, Lin let out a sigh of frustration._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty cannon, just wanted to show that Lin wasn't ALWAYS jaded.


	4. The Metal Clan, Part 4

**After Dinner:**

Lin sat alone in the parlor of the guesthouse, reading the Zaofu Newspaper. Her armor lay discarded carelessly in the corner of the bedroom. Her boots were the only metal on her that remained. The headlines of the Zaofu paper were even fluffier than those in Republic City. It seemed everything in Zaofu was plated with platinum or gold. "The Flying Boar Dance Troupe of Zaofu bests the Badgermoles of Omashu", "Varrick of Varrick Industries teams up with the matriarch's husband Baatar to revolutionize trains", "New metalbending school opened by former student of Suyin in the south neighborhood", "New Trade Deals struck with the Formerly Nomadic Sand Bending Tribes of the Si Wong Desert!"

 _Huh, didn't know the sandbending tribes had anything to trade. Last time I checked, they didn't which is why they had to loot the trains to Ba Sing Se to make their living._ Lin thought to herself as she turned the page with a frown on her face and one foot planted firmly on the ground. She looked up and folded the newspaper down even before her visitor knocked on the door.

"What do you want now, Korra?" Lin demanded as the young Avatar entered the room slowly.

"I— How'd you know it was me?"

"Think my mother let me get past the age of four without being able to see with my feet?" Lin replied sarcastically, not turning, but resting her hands on her knees and looking down.

"Sorry," Korra said.

"Why are you here? I was about to go to bed," Lin said dropping the newspaper down on the table in front of her, still not looking at the Avatar.

"I just brought someone who wants to talk to you," Korra said nervously as Opal hesitantly entered the room behind the Avatar.

"You want to talk? Then talk," Lin growled folding her arms and legs.

"I'm sorry being here has been so hard for you. When you showed up, I was so excited to get to know you. I heard so many great things about you from mom and Grandma Toph. So, I guess I was kind of sad you didn't want to know me. Believe me, I know my family can be a little crazy and overwhelming some times, but—"

"You don't know anything about our family," Lin said quietly.

"What?" Opal asked, a little shocked.

 _I should have let her finish. There is no turning back now. Best remove myself from the situation before things get worse. Spare her the pain. She doesn't need to know what happened years ago._  "Get out."

"Sorry, did I say something wrong?" Opal asked stepping back with her hands up, open palmed, innocently.

"GET OUT!" Lin snapped .

Tears formed in the young airbender's eyes as she ran out of the guesthouse.

"What's your problem? Don't get mad at Opal! I asked her to talk to you because I thought it would help you snap out of whatever funk you're in. But I guess I was wrong," Korra yelled at Lin.

"Why don't you focus on fixing the world and stop trying to fix my family?"  _It has been broken beyond repair._

"Su's right. You're never going to change. You're always gonna be a bitter, lonely woman."

 _Maybe you're right, but you should know life is never easy once you hurt me._ "You should choose your words carefully, Avatar, or else people won't be as willing to help you the next time you start a war."

"I don't—didn't—" Korra stammered.

"Get out," Lin ordered.

"You can't—"

"Get OUT!" Lin yelled bending the metal floor up to make a wall between herself and the Avatar before launching her out the door, slamming it shut, and jamming the frame so it couldn't be opened without metalbending again.

As she felt with her seismic sense, the Avatar storming off, a single tear rolled down the Police Chief's face.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin – 22, Suyin - 16**

_"Calling all units. Property reported on the corner of 5th and Harbor. Suspect's vehicle headed south on Hallow Boulevard. Units responding, identify." The station coordinator announced on the radio._

_"Unit three responding." Lin replied as a satomobile sped past her. Lin yanked her vehicle around, banking the road to aid the turn and began her swift pursuit. As soon as Lin became close enough, she bent a cable out of a rather large spool on the side of her car and ripped off a rear tire of the criminal vehicle sending it spiraling out control. She stopped her own, leaping out of the side with ease, restraining two suspects as soon as they emerged from the wreckage._

_Ha! Stupid children! She thought to herself as she noted their youth and agility. She ducked to the side as a rock flew past her face then weaved to avoid a strip of metal._

_"Leave them alone!" a voice only too familiar begged._

_"Su?!" Lin gasped yanking the two youths ensnared in her cables towards her, securing them with platinum quickly before turning to her baby sister. Lin punched a hole in the side of her own police car in frustration. "So you're robbing stores with the Terra Triad now?"_

_"I didn't steal anything! I just drove the car. I owed my friends a favor. It's not a big deal."_

_"I'm not letting you get away with this!"_

_"What are YOU going to do, officer? Arrest me? Like Mom would let THAT happen," Suyin replied with a dismissive wave of the hand._

_"What a good friend you are, leaving your friends to suffer the consequences of YOUR mistakes!"_

_"Ha! At least I have friends." the teenager replied smugly. "Besides, how can I get them out of prison if I'm also locked in?" Suyin asked with a smirk, continuing to walk away._

_"Don't you take one more step!" Lin yelled warningly._

_Suyin brushed her off and continued._

_Lin caught her wrist with a cable. Suyin only stopped for a moment before bending her cuff into along blade and slashed the cable, snapping it back at her sister's face._

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin – 22, Suyin - 16**

_"What were you thinking? And what were YOU thinking? You two have put me in an impossible position!" Toph scolded both of them in her office after rescuing Suyin from the high security cells and tracking down Lin who was on patrol in the city._

_"You're mad at me? She's the one who is a pledged member of the Terra Triad now, committing theft, assault and battery, AND evading arrest-" Lin replied._

_"This is all YOUR fault!" Suyin shrieked._

_"I was doing my job!" Lin yelled back._

_"All right! Enough! Here's what we're going to do. Su, you need to leave the city immediately," Toph decided._

_"What?! Where am I supposed to go?!" Suyin protested, crestfallen._

_"YOU are going to stay with your grandparents. Lin, give me the arrest report. I will have Do and Minh go to the hospital and get all of Su's records. Su, your citizenship of Republic City will be revoked so you can't come back," Toph listed._

_Both Suyin and Lin looked appalled._

_"Mom, what are you doing?! You can't just erase her off the face of the earth! She's a human being! Criminal or not, people know her! They'll talk regardless what you do! Might as well lock her up and put the victims' hearts at ease! There were witnesses! We CAN'T cover this up!"_

_"I am the chief of police! I cannot have a daughter in jail!"_

_"So once again, Su gets to do whatever she wants and there are no consequences,"_

_"This is our only option!" Toph yelled rubbing the sides of her head. "Now get out of my office, both of you!"_

_"BUT-" Lin began to protest._

_"One more word from you, Lin and I will strip you of that uniform and exile you too!" Toph threatened. Lin held it in and closed her eyes, her jaw throbbing with pain from the wound that resulted from the altercation that took place earlier that afternoon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also pretty canon, but is needed for the internal dialogue and context for the four parts making up the next episode, for anyone who hasn't rewatched the series in a while.


	5. Old Wounds, Part 1

As Lin emerged from her lonely guest house, she wondered what she had done in a previous life to deserve such pain? After a restless night, a migraine still bashed her brains. Light danced across her eyes, and even the quietest sounds rang louder than a gong held up to the side of her head and banged. She should rest until it passed, but felt like she couldn't. Lin's mother was always there for the last Avatar, so Lin felt like she couldn't abandon the current avatar. No matter how petulant a child she was, Zaheer and his cronies were out there somewhere and Lin couldn't let her die.

As she rounded a corner of another building on her way to go find food in the main house, Lin heard a couple of guards talking.

"How many push-ups did you do last night? Cause I did like fifty," One guard asked another flirtatiously.

"What do you two think you're doing?! Get back to work!" Lin reprimanded them before being overcome with a wave of pain. She winced and pinched the bridge of her nose as her head pounded in agony.

"Is everything all right here?" Aiwei asked.

"The Avatar is in danger, and nobody seems to give two shits about it except me. Even these two knuckleheads are just standing around here chit-chatting," Lin barked.

"Don't worry, Zaofu is the most secure city in the world!" Aiwei assured her.

"I'll be the judge of that! I'm going to check every inch of this place!" Lin declared.  _Knowing Suyin and the type of company she keeps, I wouldn't trust anything anyone here says even if he is a truthseer._

"Lin, you don't have to work while you are here. You need to relax," Aiwei insisted.

"I'm fine!" Lin snapped before being hit by another wave of pain, this time coming across her entire body.

"It doesn't take a truth seer to know that you are under a dangerous amount of stress. If you don't deal with your suppressed feelings, there will be severe consequences to your health ... and your job." Aiwei warned her.

"I'm not interested in talking about my feelings."

"You won't have to say a word. I know a great acupuncturist in town who will be able to help you," Aiwei said handing her a card.

"Hmph,"

* * *

Acupuncture. Kya always did rave about it whenever Lin had a particularly bad day. Tenzin had done it a couple times. Even Aang did it a few times and had nothing bad about it to say. It couldn't be so bad. Lin knew she had to do something to clear her head of such toxic thoughts or else, she wouldn't be able to fight when Zaheer and his band of benders caught up with them. It was inevitable, Lin knew, but nobody seemed to realize or care. She could only look after herself at this point and was very near to give up trying to help everybody else.

The acupuncturist, Guo had her lay down as he raised dozens of needles above her at extremely precise locations.

"How many of those things are you going to stick in me?" Lin asked a bit rougher than she should have.

"I'll be placing several needles on each of your acu-points. There's nothing to be scared about."

"I'm not afraid of needles!" Lin snapped back.

"Please, close your eyes and take a deep breath. This process corrects an imbalance in your chi. Please tell me if you feel any pain or pressure."

"I can't feel a thing."

"That's unusual. Your chi must be powerfully blocked. We're going to need more needles." Guo said opening a drawer in another room.

_Or it could be the fact that my mother made us believe all metal was simply an extension of ourselves, born of earth._

"Acupuncture often taps into peoples' buried memories. These memories can sometimes be difficult to process.

"Huh, buried memories." Lin grumbled skeptically as the acupuncturist placed a needle in the middle of her forehead.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 22, Suyin - 16**

_Lin was working on some reports in her room at home. There were three robberies an attempted murder and an attempted kidnapping that she responded to all in one day it was unbelievable._

_"Almost as unbelievable as what you did to Suyin," Toph said as if she read her daughter's mind. "How could you arrest your sister?"_

_"How can you say that? I thought it was our job was to protect the innocent people of Republic City? Suyin committed a crime!—," Lin protested._

_"But Suyin is family! She's blood Lin, and how does jailing her help anyone one bit? The trial, the criminal record will stop her from ever becoming something! She's just a stupid teenager; we all were once stupid teenagers EVEN YOU though that phase ended when you were two… Think about protecting family! Isn't that our job too?" Toph asked her older daughter._

_Lin froze. Had she forgotten? Had she forgotten all of the times she risked her own life to get Suyin out of whatever shit Suyin had gotten herself into? Had she forgotten all of the sacrifices Lin had made to ensure that ungrateful little shit lived another day?_

_Had Toph forgotten that it was Lin who changed the diapers, bottle-fed the baby, dressed the toddler and then the child, cooked breakfast in the morning and packed snacks for school? Had Toph forgotten Lin had to help Suyin learn arithmetic because Toph was too busy at work? Had Toph forgotten Lin took the blade of a knife into her leg multiple times, who gave up the one piece of herself that she could never get back to some lowly thug to protect Suyin's innocence? Had she forgotten it was Lin gave everything she had to keep Suyin safe, while Toph sat behind a desk at the Police Headquarters and complained about a headache she got after talking to a couple of idiotic detectives. Toph had more pressing responsibilities than her daughters' day-to-day activities. Keeping Su under control, keeping Su safe had fallen on Lin's shoulders since the day Lao and Poppy went back to Gaolin_ g.

_"Even with your feet, you are BLIND, mother. Blind to EVERYTHING!" Lin yelled heading for the door._

_"Lin—,"_

_"Protecting Su was OUR job, yet I seemed to be the only person ever doing anything about it ever since she could walk! Where where you when she became labeled a habitual truant at age of eight?"_

_"School is overrated—,"_

_"Where were you when she first brought home thieving streetrats and gave them access to our home when she was ten?"_

_"Street rats aren't dangerous and we have nothing worth stealing,—,"_

_"Where were you when she pledged herself to the Terra Triad at twelve?"_

_"I—,"_

_"Where were you **THAT NIGHT**  she went on that date at Kuang's Cuisine with a twenty six year old regional Triad leader?"_

_"I was working-,"_

_"AT THE STATION! But I wasn't protecting family was our job too?" Lin asked with tears in her eyes._

_"Don't turn this on me, Kid-,"_

_"I'm not your kid anymore," Lin growled bending on her armor, grabbing her satchel and over coat, stuffing her unfinished reports into the bag, and heading towards the door._

_"Where do you think you're going?" Toph yelled running after her._

_"Away! Anywhere but here because I can't STAND you anymore! I am sorry for trying to prevent the inevitable. I'm sorry for trying to protect Su, and you. I'm sorry for trying to keep us together. I am sorry for trying to keep up TWO Full-TIME jobs so YOU didn't have to. But don't worry. Now you don't have a family to feed or neglect, or fail to protect," Lin cried grabbing her coat disappearing into the night._

* * *

Lin sat up, bending every needle out of her sweat covered body, gasping for air.

_I need to get out!_

"Wait! Leaving in the middle of a session could make you sick!" the acupuncturist called desperately.

"I'm done here," Lin decided stumbling out of the acupuncturist's office.

* * *

She sat with the pounding headache on the lounge chair in her living room in the guest house. Her seismic sense was blurred substantially by the debilitating migraine compounded with the blinding emotional pain. She didn't even notice the knocking until the door had been opened.

She looked up and saw a young Su.

"Are you going to stay in your room feeling sorry for yourself all day?" the intruder asked.

Lin blinked a few times before her eyes refocused and saw Korra standing in the room. "You owe Opal an apology for the way you treated her last night."

 _I don't owe anyone anything!_  Lin thought to herself bitterly.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Korra asked with a tone and expression of great concern.

"I'm fine!" Lin snapped pushing past her, doubled over in aching pain.

* * *

Back at the acupuncture place, Guo was cleaning needles when Lin barged in.

"What did you do to me" the weakened Chief of Police demanded.

"I tried to warn you of the consequences of leaving early. Come with me. Let's go finish the session," he said compassionately helping her to the acupuncture table. "Now, just relax and breathe."

Lin tried to slow her breathing but to no avail as the acupuncturist replaced a needle into the middle of her forehead.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 22**

_"You're being ridiculous, Lin!" Toph berated Lin the next day at work._

_"I'm being ridiculous?" Lin replied incredulously looking up from the finished reports she was signing._

_"Acting all innocent, like Su's the criminal,"_

_"She is-"_

_"She at least never murdered-"_

_"I never-"_

_"You can't lie to me. I remember. You killed twenty-six men **THAT NIGHT** , Lin. TWENTY-SIX! I had Tam check up your file. He didn't even believe me when I told him you had a file in the first place. YOU KILLED twenty-six men and I cleared it and you get mad at me for clearing Su's petty theft assistance?"_

_"Do you even remember WHY you cleared it? Do you even remember WHY I killed them? Why I HAD to?" Lin asked through gritted teeth, looking away from her mother, feeling as if a dagger had been run cleanly through her heart, her pelvis, and leg._

_"Does it matter?" Toph asked slamming her hand on Lin's desk. "We've always said murder is never justified."_

_Lin blinked away tears. "They would have received the death penalty for their crimes anyway._ _Do you even know what they would have done to Su if I didn't intervene? I knew she was stupid and weak but she was my SISTER, and I did everything I could to protect her. Yes, I KILLED them, but only because I realized that if I died, they would have killed Suyin anyways," Lin said trembling with fury. "NO MATTER WHAT I **GAVE**  TO THEM!"_

* * *

Lin's fists clenched so tight that her finger nails pierced the palms of her own hands and drew blood. Her body was sweating profusely, and her left leg began to spasm subconsciously.

Guo dabbed the blood away nervously before it dripped onto the table. Acupuncture wasn't supposed to have such a strong affect on the physical body.

"Breathe," Guo said dabbing the Police Chief's head with a cool cloth, before removing the needle.

"You should probably rest for a few days," Guo warned Lin as he helped her sit up on the operating table.

"I don't need to rest. I need to do something I should have done a long time ago," Lin replied sliding off the edge of the table, heading towards the door with clenched fists and tense muscles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Next chapter will have a rated M flashback regarding THAT NIGHT that Lin became a murderer.


	6. Old Wounds, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT! If you're not okay with adult themes, sexual content, blood, implied killing OR Beifongs with feelings, TURN BACK NOW. (Please don't report me.) THIS IS JUST A STORY! If you just want to skip the bad stuff, and still know what happens in this chapter, Lin sacrifices something for Su, and after, Su just acts ungrateful and well, like Su. IT WILL BE THE ONLY EXPLICIT CHAPTER.

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

_The afternoon was bright but cool as Fall set in. Lin was an official cop. Had been for a year now but still volunteered at the Academy three days a week to help others who shared the same dream that she had, to protect the good people of Republic City. When she got home, she found Su on the phone. She couldn't get angry at the girl for being home since it was already seven in the evening, but something still didn't seem right._

_"Yeah, I'll make the reservation for Kuang's Cuisine... yes I'll pay. I owe you guys for what you did last week... no I won't pay thaaaat way..." Suyin laughed. "You guys are so funny!... I gueeeessssss we can hit the bar afterwards... No, my mom won't care... no, my sister has a night shift tonight and won't return until morning so I should be free... great!... I'll see you then..."_

_"Really Su? Now your wasting mom's money so a bunch of low-lives can have a taste of luxury at Kwang's Cuisine?" Lin asked._

_"They're my friends and you have no right to call them that!"_

_"I'll call them what I want. Why are you going to Kuang's?" Lin demanded._

_"It's just a date! It's no big deal!"_

_"No big deal?"_

_"You were dating Baldy since you were six. Why can't I date Kim Jeong when I'm thirteen?"_

_"That— that wasn't even dating! Mom just had Katara babysit me so she could give you more attention. Tenzin and I just happened to like each other!"_

_"Well I just HAPPEN to like this guy! I am going to Kuang's and YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" Suyin yelled storming off to her room. Lin went to hers slamming the door in frustration. She called the station._

_"Hey Mom, I need to cancel my shift tonight. I— I'm not feeling good and I think—"_

_"Why are you telling me about it kid? You do what you need to do. You could have just called your shift coordinator. You don't need to alert the Chief of Police— I don't care when you work, just that you work eventually,"_

_Lin sighed. "I know mom, I just wanted to hear your voice before tonight? I think something bad is going to happen to Su. She's meeting some 'friends' at Kuang's Cuisine and I- I don't like the friends she keeps. I don't think she understands that they can— that they can and probably will hurt her— she won't listen to me—"_

_"Eh. Su's a big girl. She can take after herself. I mean, I ran away from my parents at twelve and look at me. I survived,"_

_"Survived yeah, but at what cost."_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let out that last comment. Just— Mom, I really think she shouldn't go out tonight,"_

_"Well you're not Su's Mom. I am and I say let her go out. She can take care of herself now,"_

_"But mom!"_

_"How about this, if it will help you sleep tonight and if it will get you_ _**off my case** _ _, go with her and keep you safe from whatever threat you think is there, you can take the night off to do that," Toph suggested._

_"Fine. I'll do that. Thanks, Mom," for not caring, for not loving. Thanks for nothing. Lin thought to herself as she hung up the phone. She paused and felt Suyin standing in the doorway._

_"You called mom?" she almost sounded afraid._

_"Yeah and aren't you a lucky little shit. She said for me to let you go," Lin growled._

_"Ha! I NEW IT!" Suyin cackled. "See ya later, Linny!" she called darting out the door without a care in the world.  
_

* * *

**Present Day**

The ground cracked beneath each step Lin took as she approached her sister.

"I think Lin's mad about something!" Bolin whispered to Korra as Suyin turned to see the source of the destruction.

"Su, it's time we talked," Lin said breaking the ground beneath her as she came to face her little sister.

"After thirty years, you're finally ready to talk?" Suyin asked angrily.

"When we were in Mom's office that day, you could've taken responsibility for what you did. But instead, you stayed quiet and let Mom throw her whole career away."

"Mom didn't throw her career away. She retired the next year. She was a hero."

"You think she wanted to retire? She was so guilt-ridden about how she handled _that case_  that she didn't feel worthy of her badge."

"Look, I admit that I was not a perfect kid and I've made some mistakes in the past but-"

"Ha! You made some mistakes?"

"Lin, Mom and I already talked about this years ago and worked things out. If you had gotten together with us like we'd asked, you would know that I'm a different person now. I've been a different person for a long time!"

"You think that just because you live in a big, fancy house, and have a chef who cooks you fancy food, that you're a different person? Maybe you could fool everyone else, but you can't fool me. I see right through you. You're still the same; harboring criminals, lying to everyone's face and doing whatever it takes to get what you want. You have no regard for other people's time, energy, or feelings. You're just the same naive, selfish, ungrateful THING you were twenty-nine years ago!"

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

__You're not going ANYWHERE tonight. Lin decided watching Su leave. Not alone, at least.  
_ _

_Lin wasn't allowed to wear her full police uniform when not on duty but she could wear her cables and carry her badge and ID. She pulled on a dark grey overcoat coat and her black police pants. And set out only minutes after Suyin and made her way to Kuang's. She waited outside with a perfectly steady heartbeat, bending out the vibrations it caused in the earth so Suyin wouldn't be able to see her there with her own feat. She listened with one ear on the wall to their boring ass conversation about the menu and then a rather revealing conversation about their histories._

_The boy's father died when he was young as did Suyin's and Lin's for that matter._

_His father's brother married his mother stole the money and abandoned them shortly after. His mother committed suicide leaving him on the streets to fend for himself._

_"And look at me now? Having dinner at one of the finest places in the city with one of the finest ladies in the City? I've come a long way," the young man said._

_Suyin giggled._

_Lin gagged in the alleyway. Su's only thirteen! She's HARDLY a lady._

_"So why do you do it?" the young man asked Suyin. "Why do you join us on these raids?"_

_"Eh, I felt like I had to do something for my mother to notice me. Father's gone. Mother's working herself into oblivion. It's like it hurts her to see us. I just want to show her I can do something-"_

_"And that something isn't joining the police like your sister-"_

_"Well you've seen my sister. Mother doesn't give two shits about her either! How would following in her footsteps be a good thing?"_

_"I understand your frustration,"_

_Lin could feel the man's hand moving towards Su's._

_"I can give you that attention you crave."_

_"I don't just crave anyone's attention. I crave my mother's,"_

_"Don't worry. We can fill in for you mother. Trust me, we'll make you feel like a baby again when we get to the bar," the young man said with a smirk._

_Something about the man's tone made Lin's stomach curl. Everything seemed wrong about him; his affiliation with the Terra Triad, his age, and his interest in Lin's thirteen-year-old little sister._

* * *

**Present Day**

Suyin's face contorted with anger as she listened. "You know what, Lin? YOU'RE the one who hasn't changed. You're still a bitter loner who only cares about her own image and her name. All you wanted was honor and glory yet you call me selfish simply for living my own life! You're the one who's stubborn and unyielding. No wonder Tenzin ended things with you years ago!" Suyin yelled.

If Lin were a firebender, she would have roasted Suyin alive. There was no doubt about it. Lin slammed her foot down lifting a sharp rock and punched it towards her sister who smashed it with her wrist.

"So this is how it's going to be huh?" Suyin asked creating a ripple in the earth to knock Lin's feet out from under her before landing a hit to the gut with a meteor from the other direction.

With a grunt, Lin rolled backwards, over her head and onto her feet again. She bent a set of uniform stairs towards her little sister who blocked it with a metal panel that she then sent towards Lin.

The elder earthbender did a layup over the panel and then punched another four panels out of the way effortlessly. She sent an assortment of rocks varying in size at the younger who weaved between them with ease and returned with a boulder.

Lin did a back flip to avoid it. Just as she landed, Suyin slapped a metal strip onto Lin's wrist and ankle and flipped her over and sent her flying through the air into a wall.

"Should we do something?" Korra asked.

"You don't have siblings. Fighting is all a part of the healing process.

"Go Mom!" Wing yelled pumping his fist in the air.

Lin recovered and landed nearby Huan's statue.

You want metal? I'll show you metal!

Lin tore the rivets out of the piece and bent them like bullies towards Suyin who blocked them with a panel of extremely high density metal she tore off the retaining wall of a terrace in the garden and wrapped around herself. She snapped the panel back and threw Lin into the staircase to the pagoda where her family stood watching.

Just a small irregularity in the stair step jammed into the back of Lin's leg, striking a hypersensitive nerve.

She cried out.

* * *

**Flashback:**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

_As soon as Lin reached the wall of the bar, she heard her sister screaming._

_"No! Don't!" Suyin yelled trying to run out of the bar as soon as she entered it._

_"Come on, it won't hurt for long. Just in the beginning. It will be fun!" the young man with the Terra Triad said catching Suyin's wrists._

_"Let me go! LET GO!" Suyin yelled balling her hands into fists, bending the cuffs on her forearm into a long blade that would have nearly severed the man's hand off if he hadn't moved in time._

_"Seon-juk!" the Terra Triad Member called._

_Suyin screamed in pain but didn't move after that. She couldn't.  
_

_Lin slammed her foot into the ground. The floor made of a thick wood, but she could still make out some vibrations. They have a bloodbender, Lin realized._

_"Don't hurt her!" Lin yelled revealing herself, running into lair of predators, just waiting to strike, disguised as a bar. Out of the bottom of her field of vision Lin saw Suyin quivering on the ground under the control of a bloodbender._

_"Any why not?" the young man who went in the date with Suyin asked approaching Lin curiously._

_"She's young and stupid and... She doesn't know what she is doing-" Lin said standing up a little taller, lifting her chin to expose her neck. Suyin's eyes widened in shock as she watched her sister.  
_

_"And you do?" the man asked with a lustful smirk tucking a lock of hair behind Lin's ear._

_"Please- just let her go," Lin begged in a whisper._

_"And what are YOU willing to give us in exchange for her safety? You're her sister, right?" the young man asked._

_Lin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Damn the thick wood._ _"Anything," Lin said quietly._ _The triad members glanced at each other._ _"Very well."_

_In a fraction of a second, Lin was bloodbent to her knees, Suyin thrown to the other side of the room and a wooden cage was dropped from the ceiling over the thirteen-year-old._

_"Hey!" Suyin shrieked._

_"We'll save you for later," a member of the Terra Triad said metalbending her cuffs off while the bloodbender kept his grip on her._

_Another metalbending member of the Terra Triad ripped all of the metal from Lin's body. Old police issue cables, four concealed knives, one concealed dagger, a sword, a meteor bracelet, a jade necklace in her shirt, and a golden anklet. Suyin's date examined Lin, her clothes in shreds after the metal was bent right through and carried to the other room._

_"You're actually rather pretty. It's such a shame your body is hidden in that awful armor all day," Suyin's date said tearing Lin's shirt off by the collar as she winced._

_"Lin!" Suyin called shaking the bars of her wooden cage._

_"Shut up!" a triad member said banging his fist on Suyin's cage.  
_

_Lin was forced onto her back by the bloodbender as one of the Terra Triad members moved to remove her black police uniform trousers revealing a pair of pale, smooth, beautifully toned legs._

_"Lin-don't do it!" Suyin shrieked from her wooden cage._

_Lin shot her head over at her little sister as they got closer. Through gritted teeth and in a whisper only Suyin heard, Lin said, "For the millionth time in our lives, shut up, Su."  
_

_"Cry for us Beifong," Suyin's date said as another young man said as he entered the young cop. Lin merely flinched. "Not even a single tear?!" he spat in her face as she winced and closed her eyes._

_"Lin-I'm sorry." Suyin cried watching helplessly from the cage. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the wooden bars so tightly.  
_

_Lin said nothing as the man pulled out curiously and glanced at his member._

_"Is this your first time?" he asked the elder Beifong._

_Lin shook her head "No."_

_Suyin swore she could could feel the irregularity in her sister's heartbeat through the wood. Either the wood had earth or metal in it, or her sister was really frightened. One thing Suyin could tell for sure, Lin was lying._

_"Then it must be a second time-" the man said with a smile. "I can tell by the way her body reacts." the man said pressing down on her pelvis with a rough, callused hand as he pushed into her again. "And the fact that she's **still** bleeding," he said filling her to the hilt with a sick grin._

_Lin cried out from the internal burn, but wouldn't let a single tear fall._

_The man pulled his leather belt out of the loops of his own pants that were down at his knees and raised it up above his head before bringing it down on Lin's stomach with a sickening crack.  
_

_"Stop it! Please!" Suyin screamed, begged, pleaded._

_"Nah- we appreciate her spirit to protect you. And we enjoy breaking that spirit-" he said turning Lin onto her stomach, whipping her again before ramming into her ass._

_The brave big sister screamed then as Suyin looked away._

_"Why are you doing this?" Lin asked with shaking arms and tears pouring from both brilliant green eyes._

_"Why not?" the man replied pausing the movement to listen to the young metalbender._

_Lin whimpered._

_"Tell me, Lin Beifong, do you think there is a chance your mother will kill herself if neither of her daughters never return tonight?" the man asked._

_"She will tear up the city to find us and destroy you!"_

_"How do you know? Think about it. She would have nothing left to live for if you and Suyin were dead. You can't really believe she cares about the city. She just thinks that if the City were safe, you'd be safe to be free. But she's just as stupid as little Suyi here," the man said._

_Lin groped her surroundings for any metal remaining in the room. She found it. Sweet sweet metal. It was just a zipper, but it would do. The next time her rapist tried to turn her over, she managed to move a knee through the blood bending. The zipper flew off of his own trousers, ripping the seams there, morphed into a spear and flew through the bottom of the man's jaw, expanding and tearing up the inside of his head just behind the face before reemerging out his forehead. Blood splashed on her face as he fell._ _"No bending!" Suyin's date yelled kicking her in the side. She crumpled into under the impact feeling a broken rib."_ _Seon-juk!" he called.  
_

_"And as a punishment for this pesky leg that we know didn't MEAN to bend," said bending water from the water skin into an icy blade as his comrades sprawled her out again. The bloodbender bit his lip in concentration as he stabbed the ice knife into the side of Lin's thigh and pulled it down towards her knee cutting deep through skin and muscle to ensure Lin wouldn't be walking out of that place that evening._

_The entire earthen foundation beneath the wooden building began to shake as Lin was forced to endure the pain. Her leg spasming from the trauma. The severed nerves numbed the area of the wound but but the remaining nerves flooded her brain with enough pain for a lifetime. Lin cried while thirteen-year-old Suyin watched in disbelief, tears falling from her own eyes._

_They ignored the now violent shaking of the building as they moved her to rape her again. The next rapist was bigger than the first. Lin resisted, clenching her muscles involuntarily, hurting the man and herself in the process. He slapped her ass and accepted the icy blade from the bloodbender to stab her in the back of the leg this time. The earth beneath the thick wooden floors began to crack and shift enough to split the oak that separated the Beifong girls from their element. Lin squeezed her eyes shut as the pounding continued, and willed the pain to end. Just **END!**_

_In a blinding moment, jagged stalagmites and spears tore up through the wood cleanly impaling every single in the room one at a time. He's laughing? Dead? He's watching? Dead. He's drinking? Dead. Lin killed every one of their captors, and with exquisite precision, broke the chains that held the wooden cage down over her sister._

_"Lin!" Suyin threw the cage off and ran over to her big sister tearing up the black police uniform pants to wrap the gaping wounds in her sister's leg. "We need to get you to Katara!"_

_"Too far-"_

_"The hospital-"_

_"No one can know-"_

_"You need a healer!"_

_"We have salves at home!"_

_"Lin, you're hurt! This isn't just a scratch you can walk away from and be just fine!"_

_"Watch me-" Lin said struggling to stand again before falling._

_"Lin! Will you ever stop being so stubborn?"_

_"WILL YOU EVER LISTEN TO ME?!" Lin yelled. "You're the one who was stupid enough to go on a blind date with a fucking Terra Triad in the first place! **You've DONE ENOUGH!** -"_

_Suyin sat back and wiped her nose with her now blood covered hands. "He was my friend! I didn't know his friends would do this. I viewed him like family!"_

_"But he is NOT family, Suyin, and he can never be. Y **OU'RE A BEIFONG!**  No matter what,  **YOU CANNOT ESCAPE IT!**  You will be  **USED**  and you will be  **ABUSED** for your  **fortune**  and your  **name**.  **You're just a trophy**  to the other gangs! So wake up, Su!  **Life ISN'T a game!**  You were just an asset to them who could beg the chief of police, her own mother, for mercy on their behalf!" Lin shouted back._

_Suyin whimpered. Lin was right and they both knew it. Suyin helped Lin out the door in silence, leaving behind the bloody mess in that broken shell of a building._


	7. Old Wounds, Part 3

**Present Day:**

"You got it out of your system yet?!" Suyin demanded walking over a bridge towards her big sister.

"Not quite!" Lin replied lifting up a chunk of the staircase forcing Bolin to jump off of it and into Wei's arms in fear.

Suyin picked up a boulder just as big and lifted it above her head, but before she could chuck her chosen weapon at her older sister, her daughter intervened.

Opal jumped between the two women blasting the massive masses of earth out of their grip. "What are you doing?! You two are sisters! Why would you want to hurt each other?!" the young woman shrieked at her mother and aunt.

"Ask HER that!" Lin replied angrily clutching the back of her leg, turning and limping away leaving in her wake an array of sharp, jagged spires protruding from the earth, piecing through the metal plates on the ground of Suyin's estate as the rather sizeable crowd watch with bewilderment.

"Did she pull a muscle or something?" Bolin asked Wei who shrugged.

"Lin! Come back! You can't just walk away from this!" Korra yelled running after her, jumping from spire to spire.

She almost reached Lin when a jut of earth shot out of the ground nearly impaling the avatar if she didn't airbend herself out of the way. Lin didn't even seem to notice. It was like a subconscious reflex.

Suyin's face fell as she recognized the chaos the Police Chief left in her wake. "Oh no!" Suyin gasped. "Stay back! I have to go after her!" Suyin said pushing Korra back and chasing after Lin.

Suyin managed to avoid death by using her seismic sense to feel the earth coming out before it did and followed Lin all the way to the guest houses where she had barricaded herself in and jammed the door shut with her metalbending and some platinum bolts.

"Lin, Let me in!"

Lin didn't respond.

"Please!"

Suyin pressed her back against the door and slid down to the ground.

"Lin, please. I- I—Just hear me. I want to apologize for today, for yesterday, for the last thirty five years. I know I made a lot of mistakes, and I'm sorry you had to be the one to suffer for them. I am sorry for all of the scars you have to live with because of me. I'm sorry I don't tell Mom about what she couldn't see. I'm sorry for getting tied up with the triads when I was twelve, and I'm sorry for going on that date when I was thirteen. I'm sorry you were raped. I know nothing I say or do can atone for the pain I've caused you, but swear to you, I've changed! I'm not the same impulsive and impudent little girl I was when I left Republic City 30 years ago! Please, Lin… I've been a terrible sister, but can I at least have the chance to try again?" Suyin begged. She looked up at the clouds in the sky, feeling fat tears forming in her eyes. She unfolded her arms briefly only to bend the metal panels on the ground before her to stand up on end around her and the door, forming a privacy wall before letting her tears fall.

Emotions were always seen as a weakness in Toph's eyes, so Lin and Suyin became experts at hiding everything.

* * *

**Flashback (Suyin's POV)  
**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

_Suyin kicked open the stone door of their rather lavish estate and helped her sister inside._

_"Where have you two been?" Toph demanded, leaning against the wall of the entryway with her arms folded and her eyes closed._

_"Nowhere important," Lin replied grumpily._

_"It is nearly midnight! How long are dates these days?" Toph muttered kicking the door shut._

_"Lin's hurt!" Suyin said to Toph._

_"I can tell by the way she's limping._

_"For the last time, just SHUT UP, SU!" Lin yelled._

_"Don't yell at her! Tell me what happened, kiddo?" Toph asked reaching to relieve Suyin from supporting Lin's weight._

_"Nothing happened! I'm fine. My injuries are none of your business. I just need time!" Lin growled throwing her mother's arm off her shoulder, practically crawling away unsupported, leaving a tiny spike where every hand and knee touched the stone floor. Suyin watched as the blood left a trail on the floor, but Mother couldn't see. Just then the phone rang._

_"I'll get it," Toph sighed with frustration. "WHAT?!"_

_"Chief. We've got a call about a mass murder," Deputy Chief Rollo said._

_"What?" Toph gasped picking out her ear to make sure she heard clearly._

_"Twenty six people have been found dead in a pub in the Dark Clay District. We desperately need your help,"_

_Toph tilted her head to the ceiling where she could feel her older daughter's labored breathing resonating through the stone._

_"I'll be right there!" Toph informed the officer. "Su, Don't go out until I return. If you need food or something, call Aunt Katara to bring you something. That is an order! Go see if you can help your sister,"_

_"Yes, Mom," Su sighed trudging up the stairs as Toph bolted out the door._

_Suyin set about cleaning the blood off the floor then went to see her sister._

_"Lin! Let me in! I can help you at least clean the thing!" Suyin yelled through the stone._

_"Just GO AWAY!"_

_"LIN!"_

_"I can take care of myself! You should learn to do the same!" Lin yelled._

_"But Lin! Please! Let me help you!" Suyin pleaded banging her little fists on the door. She jumped back with a gasp as a spear sprouted from the stone door right where Suyin's head was mere seconds before._

_"You've done enough, don't you think?" Lin replied._

_"Lin," Suyin whimpered sliding down with her back pressed against the door, looking up at the spike protruding from the stone above her. Suyin yanked off her shoes and hugged her knees to her chest, listening to her sister's heart beating against the stone floor. She was laying under her bed now. Why?_

* * *

**Present Day:**

"Lin, please let me in!" Su asked again, miserably

Lin looked down at her shaking hands and the splintering ground beneath her fett. She couldn't control either and it was frightening. She knew there was nothing to be afraid of now, so why did she have this feeling? She remembered the last time this sensation came over her being. She had just become police chief and was flipping through witness accounts when she found one written by Uncle Sokka about the mass murder in the Dark Clay District of Republic City in the year 139AG

* * *

**Flashback (Sokka's POV)  
**

**Witness Testimony for the Murder on Ale Avenue, Dark Clay District, Republic City;** ****Spring 139 AG** **

_When Chief of Police, Toph Beifong, and Me, Councilman Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe arrived at the crime scene of the Dark Clay Murder, a four block section of the city had been completely roped off, quarantined. There were no signs of any sort of scuffle. The pavement was completely undisturbed and clean. I could feel the Chief's grip on my hand tighten as we approached the building that contained the crime scene._

_"What do you see with your feet?" I asked._

_"You'll find out soon enough," the Chief replied stone-faced as we turned to face the entrance of the rather rustic establishment._

_"Spirits!" the sight was ghastly. Twenty-six people were dead; all impaled from various directions in what appeared to be one fell swoop of extremely powerful and probably distressed earthbending. I draped my arm over the Chief. In case this brutal murderer was still nearby, I wanted to protect our chief. "Maybe I should preside over this investigation, while you go sleep or something," I suggested. "The entire building is made of wood… really thick wood. You wouldn't be able to see. Besides, the next few days will be…"_

_"First of all," Toph said raising a hand to silence me. "You are not even part of the police force, and second of all, I've already seen. The people were impaled by an earth bender. I could feel their bodies perched on these spikes from all the way down the street. I couldn't believe it."_

_The Chief spoke quietly. The last time there was a mass murder, she was yelling at everybody to work quickly, take the pictures, and clean up, so they could go back to the station, ID everybody and carry on the investigation swiftly and efficiently. So far, she had not said a single word to any of her officers. Did she know something?_

_"CHIEF!" an officer yelled as Toph had lifted her foot. Her grip on my hand tightened painfully. "Don't step there!" an Officer yelled._

_Toph put her foot back down beside the other on the stone step and frowned. "Why not?" she asked suspiciously, still not yelling at anybody._

_"There's blood… and lots of it. You could slip and fall… and we haven't finished taking pictures," the officer stammered._

_"Oh… Right…" Toph stepped back and resigned while her subordinates collected evidence and took photographs for later review. Her unseeing eyes narrowed in thought as she receded deep into her own mind. Ordinarily, Toph left the photographs for the various detectives under her command to review, but he knew she couldn't now. She would personally have to sit with someone to go over all of the evidence for a case with so many casualties._

_"Chief, I think you need to see this," an officer called from an adjacent room near the back of the main gathering hall of the pub._

_"Do you have all the pictures we need?" Toph asked calmly before stepping into the building._

_"Yes, thank you for asking," a nearby officer said waving for the Chief to proceed forward._

_I followed her as she crossed the room, her bare feet splashing in the puddles of blood that formed on the cracked wood. She was using the earthen pillars that had broken through the thick wooden floor to triangulate her own position in the building._

_The small room the police officer called us to must have been the administrative office for the bar. It was small, cramped and filled to the hilt with scrap paper, log-books, and receipts. The pencil looked like it had been chewed on for years, and the pen was snapped in half and spilling ink. Nothing appeared really out of place for this lower city establishment except for a single throwing knife with a green hilt sitting on a stack of papers._

_"It's just a knife," Toph shrugged folding her arms._

_"Chief, I think he is more concerned with what is on the knife," I said reaching for it. I paused. "You've taken all of your pictures?"_

_"Yes, Councilman. You may pick it up,"_

_I did. Toph held out a hand to receive it. I reached for her other hand, placing her finger on a place on the hilt of the blade._

_She recognized it immediately. The hand-crafted steel was the finest the Fire Nation could produce. Both Toph and I knew. The weight, the grip, and the shape was made custom as a gift from Fire Lady Mai for Toph's daughter, Lin, nearly a decade prior. On the green hilt, they even had carved in gold, the Beifong Family Crest of the Flying Boar._

_Toph's face didn't change, but I could tell her heart stopped the moment she touched the blade. Her unseeing eyes became dazed as her fingers slowly closed on the blade, piecing her own flesh without realizing._

_"Toph?" I asked, taking the blade back, and replacing it with the handkerchief I kept in my breast pocket._

_Toph blinked and took a breath, snapping out of her dazed state as she turned to the officer who had summoned us to this room. "Who were these people? Have any of them been identified yet?" Toph demanded, her former, commanding self returning briefly._

_"Three have been identified as relatively high-ranking members of the Terra Triad. The rest, most likely sources, messengers, and accomplices," the officer said._

_"Chief, the coroner is here!" another officer called peaking into the small office._

_"He should know what to do!" Toph replied with a brusque air of annoyance turning her attention back to me and the one who called her into this room. "Will you please excuse us," Toph asked her officer. He saluted and bowed to her before slipping out of the room._

_"Sokka, I need you to go to my house and stay with Lin and Su for a few days, until I can come home," she said to me._

_"Toph, I'd love to. You know I would, but I have a job too, and with this going on..." I began to say._

_"Your assistant has the security clearance to to take your place for a few days. Mine doesn't. I cannot get away. Please, Sokka." She was begging. I could hear her voice begin to break. She was frightened by something. "Su was practically carrying Lin home tonight. I couldn't tell if she was injured or inebriated. All I could feel was her limping and her heart beating irregularly. Su won't speak to me, but I need to know what happened,"_

_"You think Lin or Su did this?" Sokka asked. Toph said snatching the throwing knife out of Sokka's hand, holding it up to his face. "THIS is proof enough for me that they were here, I know it. Lin always takes one when she goes out to stalk Suyi."_

_"Alright," I sighed. "I'll go and see what I can do for the girls."_

_"Thank you, Sokka."_

_"Toph,"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"We'll get to the bottom of this. Don't worry," I tried to tell her._

_"I'm a mother. That is an impossible demand," Toph replied turning away from Sokka to think._

_I knew the Chief was not going to sleep tonight, or tomorrow probably. After twenty-six gruesome murders took place in one night, in one building, with no witnesses, I would not be surprised if she didn't sleep for the whole week._

* * *

**Flashback (Suyin's POV)  
**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

_Four days passed. Sokka tried to ask questions here and there, but Suyin wouldn't divulge anything. She didn't want to make Lin angry. She had already hurt her sister so much, and telling Uncle Sokka would mean telling her mom which would only result in more problems for the two sisters. Lin didn't leave her room for anything, and any time Su or Sokka tried to get in, they were met by an earthen cone point to their face. Three of the five councilmen were demanding answers and ranting about Suyin's mother's incompetency all over the covers of the newspapers. Avatar Aang became involved in the investigation, working alongside Toph, replacing her "brainless" secretary, and still little to no information had been released. Crowds formed every day waiting for the Chief of Police to emerge and make a statement. The station was scrambling to find something, yet every lead yielded nothing._

_The door to the Beifong Estate was kicked down, causing Sokka to spill his tea and Suyin to crack the floor with her earthbending unintentionally._

_"Police! We need all occupants of the building to come down with their hands visible!" an officer yelled entering followed by the Chief who issued a warrant to search the premises._

_"Mom, what are you doing?!" Suyin screamed as they came into the kitchen._

_"Following our last lead," Toph said as her officers parted for her to come forward. She held up the throwing knife with the Beifong Family Crest on it. Suyin's eyes widened with horror. She thought she had grabbed everything, the metal cables, her own arm cuffs and Lin's meteor bracelet... If she left any of those, no one would have known because those had no family symbols. They were all factory made._

_"No! It wasn't us! Please!" Suyin screamed, lying anyways._

_"You're not in trouble, Su. Stop yelling. We just want to ask a few questions. Where's your sister?" Toph asked._

_"She's not feeling well!" Suyin replied. "Still in bed."_

_Toph took a deep breath of frustration and sent her officers up the stairs to her daughter's room. As they approached, the entire house began to shake and the floor began to crack._

_"Huh?" the Officers thought to themselves. Just before they reached the door, the stone hallway transformed. Spires shot out of the ceiling, walls and floor blocking the door with deadly points, forcing the officers to jump, roll, and fall back._

_"How long has that been happening?" Toph asked Suyin._

_"Like I said, she's not feeling well!" Suyin replied folding her arms._

_"Chief, it's the same formations as in the-"_

_"Yeah! I know!" Toph yelled rubbing her temples. Sokka put his hands on her arms and held her, trying to comfort her with his presence._

_"Chief, what are our next steps?" the officer asked._

_"I will personally close the case tomorrow. In the meantime, archive everything we've done so far under a Tier 1 Classification. Talk to NO ONE. I'll write the press release." Toph decided._

_"Chief, should we arrest her? The consequence for serial murder is life in prison,"_

_"We still don't know anything about the circumstances surrounding the murder. Leave her," Toph ordered. "All of you return to the station and get back to work." Toph ordered as the police filed out of the building._

_"You really think Lin killed all of those people?" Sokka asked that evening after Suyin was supposed to be in bed._

_"Yes," Toph replied._

_"Why?"_

_"To protect Su when I wasn't there to." Toph replied wiping her eyes._

_"But they said they were at Kuang's. That's miles from the Dark Clay District,"_

_"Sokka, I know my little one is lying. I just need the big one to come out of her room-" Toph's voice hitched._

_"Don't worry, we'll get through to her." Sokka reassured Toph._

* * *

**Flashback (Lin's POV)  
**

**Lin - 19, Suyin - 13**

_The light hurt Lin's eye. She was disoriented. She couldn't tell up from down, she couldn't tell time, she couldn't see or breathe. She was dying and she knew it. Maybe then, she would be out of her misery. Never again would she have to argue with her mother or try to keep Su from doing something stupid. Never again would she ever have to do anything._

_"It's been over a week," Lin heard Toph say through the door. Lin couldn't even lift her head. She pressed her hand into the ground with what little remained of her energy. Her mother wasn't alone out there, and it wasn't Suyin or Uncle Sokka. "What's the range on your bloodbending?" She heard her mother ask Aunt Katara._

_"I could get her from here," Katara said._

_"Use it to immobilize her if you need to, to get her to stay still. Just- find out what happened, please. She's never been out this long for anything," Toph said._

_Lin gasped. If she got into bed, she could pretend she was sleeping. She managed to get out from under the structure and climb on top. Her arms were shaking and her legs completely numb to all feeling._

_"I'll try," Katara tuned into the girl's body. The waterbender gasped and released her hold on Lin as the young earthbender winced in agony as memories flooded her brain again of that night in the Dark Clay District. ._

_"What's wrong?" Toph asked._

_"There's not much blood left in her body to bend-" Katara said gravely. Toph looked down, and Lin, overcome with fatigue from crawling into bed, closed her eyes and instantly fell into a restless sleep._

**(Katara's POV)**

_Katara tried again and held Lin still on the bed while Toph bent a tunnel for her to crawl through beneath the door's defenses._

_"Lin, " Katara said peeking out of the tunnel in the floor to find a room reeking of blood and death. Katara pushed herself out of the tunnel and stood._

_It looked like the young, budding police officer had only been living off water and a couple of packets of instant noodles she had stashed away in her day bag and a drawer in her desk. She looked frighteningly thinner and weaker laying on her bed, struggling to find sleep and peace. Her flawlessly beautiful face was contorted in agony, her body in chills and skin dripping with sweat. And her sheets, were stained red._

_Katara climbed onto the bed slowly. Lin barely noticed. Her senses had gone numb from the bloodbending and her mind walled itself in some deep dark corner of her her head to relive the some nightmarish memory. Katara opened her water skin and bent some of its contents to the troubled earthbender's head._

_"There, there, Little Linny, you're home. You're safe. You are loved more than the world by so many. It's okay, to hurt. It's okay to feel pain." Katara said relieving the young woman of some of the trauma in her head so she could finally sleep. Katara kept one hand encased with water on the girl's head. With her other hand, she peeled back the stained red sheet covering the young earthbender's naked body. The bed sheets were stained with blood._

_Lin lay in her underwear on her right side. Her elevated left leg was wrapped in blood soaked fabric from the thigh to the knee. Katara bent some water away from Lin's head and cleaned the bandage, forcing the dried blood to dissolve, discarding it in the sink of the bathroom attached to the girl's bedroom. Then she returned to remove the cleaned bandage and inspect the damage. It was a gash at least ten inches long and at least three inches deep from what Katara Could see. It was a miracle Lin wasn't dead yet from the blood loss._

_"You poor thing!" Katara said drawing more clean water from her pouch. The gash wasn't healing properly. In the nine days since the event, the fibers had misaligned when Lin tried to bandage herself. Katara would need to reopen the wound to be able to make it mend itself._

_Katara used one hand to hold Lin still, and the other to create an icy blade that would numb the area as it cut through her leg again. The experienced healer had seen many injuries but none have been this bad requiring her to reopen the wound just to get to the damage. She turned the icy blade into healing water again and mended the girl's leg before noticing a wound in the back of her thigh. It was a stab wound. She had to reopen that one too and realign the fiber ands and heal it again._

_Katara moved the water around, searching for more wounds in a desperate attempt to save what was left of little Linny. There. More lacerations. Deep lacerations. Katara opened her eyes and looked. The external skin was fine... the lacerations were inside, in a woman's most private place. A tear slid down Katara's cheek as she looked down at the young lady. "You were raped." Katara breathed placing a loving hand on Lin's head for a second._

_It was a private place, but Katara knew she had to make sure Lin was okay for Toph, and Tenzin's sake. She turned Lin onto her back and spread her legs slowly and carefully wanting to minimize discomfort. She felt Lin waking slightly. The girls arms began shaking as she gripped into the filthy bed sheets with her fingers like claws._

_"It's just me. Aunt Katara. You're home now. Your safe. We're going to help you get better, Linny. I promise!" Katara said placing a hand on Lin's shoulder._

_She didn't respond, but she didn't attack either so Katara proceeded to bend healing water into Lin's private area to get to the internal lacerations. Finally, everything was done. She was healed but it would still take some time for her to naturally regenerate her blood supply._

_"Tenzin," Lin said softly._

_"What about Tenzin dear? He'll be here soon, Linny," Katara said washing her hands in the bathroom._

_"I was ready, but he wanted us wait until our wedding day. I agreed, but now. I am not even sure if he will even still want me," Lin whispered breaking down again._

_"Linny, he doesn't care if you're a virgin or—,"_

_"What if he thinks I cheated on him? What if he thinks I'm dirty?"_

_"Lin! He won't even be able to tell the difference, trust me!" Katara said. "He loves you with his entire existence. He will always want you," Katara promised. "We will always want you!"_

_Lin sniffled and pulled her legs closer to her chest. Katara could hear the girl's stomach grumbling._

_"I don't ever want to see the light of day again, I could do it, you know. I am an earthbender, I could dig my own grave,"_

_"Lin, do not speak that way. You will survive this. We will get through it, together! Trust me!" Katara insisted reaching out to take one of Lin's hands. The girl didn't seem convinced._

_"Would you believe me if I told you I saw dreary standing before me?"_

_"Yes, I would," Katara said squeezing the girl's limp hand. She was so weak. "Can you walk now?" Katara asked helping her to her feet. Lin stood, shaking at first, then steadied a bit more. She felt the ground beneath her callused soles and the dust between her toes as she curled her feet into the stone. She looked around at the jagged formations she created barricading her windows and bedroom door._

_"So messy," Lin commented bowing her head in disappointment. She slid her legs apart, flexed her mended muscles and then flipped her palms down collapsing all of the jagged rock formations, restoring the cool, smooth, polished marble of the luxurious Beifong Estate._

_"Let's get you some proper food. These instant noodles are disgusting!" Katara said kicking aside a wrapper, draping her arm around the young officer._


	8. Old Wounds, Part 4

****_Flashback:  
Lin 19  
Suyin 13_

_"Good to see you on your feet again, Linny," Toph said sitting at the kitchen table attempting to hide her concern for Lin and the possible trial for murder._

_"She shouldn't stay on them long. She lost a lot of blood recently and her body will need a lot of time to naturally replenish it," Katara said to Toph._

_"What happened?" Toph asked._

_There were three lacerations. The first was in the side of her left leg, about ten inches long, about three inches deep, four in the middle. The second was a simple stab wound about ten inches deep. The third was internal-"_

_"I don't need to hear this," Lin said sternly spooning some rice porridge into her bowl and heading again for her room._

_Toph erected a wall covering the doorway from the kitchen to the hall._

_"Sit. We need to talk," Toph said._

_Lin gripped the bowl tighter, and reluctantly sat down._

_"Toph, maybe we should wait. Let Lin eat first. She's lost a lot of weight in just nine- days. I'm worried-" Katara said trying to keep Toph from speaking._

_Toph wouldn't relent._

_"Where were you the night of April 15?" Toph asked._

_"Protecting Su, like I promised I would," Lin replied through gritted teeth._

_Suyin looked up with wide eyes._

_"Were you at Kuang's Cuisine?" Toph asked._

_"At first," Lin replied looking down at her food knowing exactly where the conversation was going._

_"Did you end up at the Kiota Sake Bar?"_

_Lin said nothing._

_"Do you know anything about the mass murder in the Dark Clay District?"_

_"Toph!" Katara hissed warningly._

_"Yes," Lin said looking up into her mother's glazed unseeing eyes. "Yes, I killed them! I had to to protect my city by protecting my baby sister, and you."_

_"How was killing twenty-six people supposed to protect anybody. You could have apprehended the triad members and called some on-duty police?" Toph replied._

_"THERE WAS NO TIME!" Lin cried bending her fork into a ball. She was more powerful now that her legs were mended._

_"There's always time!"_

_"No there wasn't!" Lin yelled splitting the ground. "They were going to gang-rape Su! I couldn't let that happen- she's only thirteen! So I gave them myself! I thought I would be enough, but I was wrong. They were using Su, USING BOTH OF US to get to you. They asked me if there was a chance you would kill yourself if neither of us returned that night. I knew you would. I KNOW YOU! You would kill yourself if you lost us, but first, you would single-handedly destroy the city after trying AND FAILING to find us. And without you, the city would fall to the triads."_

_"You should have been more careful-" Toph scoffed._

_Lin threw the tiny metal ball that Toph deflected easily as she stood up, enraged._

_"Yes, I should be more careful and do NOTHING to try to protect my little sister, the child YOU birthed simply to IGNORE!" Lin yelled._

_"Lin, listen-"_

_"No, YOU LISTEN, for once. You let her run around recklessly at the age of thirteen and let her go on dates with full fledged members of the Terra Triad that are TWICE her age-"_

_"This isn't about Su! This is about you, killing-"_

_"Of course it is not about Su! It is always about me. Su couldn't possibly mix with the Triads. She's too young, too sweet, too perfect at metalbending, mastering it at age three. Well newsflash, she's pledged! She is one of them. Even with your feet, you're blind mother! YOU are completely oblivious and it is infuriating!" Lin yelled storming off, leaving in her wake, jagged defense spikes crossing the hall space in every direction._

_"Toph! Lin hasn't eaten in nine days and you couldn't let her get through one meal without criticizing?" Katara asked._

_"I wasn't criticizing; I was interrogating. She used to be able to handle it." Toph shrugged. "Maybe Twinkle Toes junior made her knees weak or something."_

_"This has nothing to do with Tenzin," Katara snarled._

_"It's my fault," Suyin confessed. Toph turned to the thirteen year old with her unseeing eyes. "I agreed to go on a date with a boy from the Terra Triad. He's higher up than me, and a lot older than I expected. He suggested we go to the bar after dinner at Kuangs. There, he tried to touch me. At tried to resist but... he... he became forceful, and had friends with him. When they wouldn't let me leave, Lin revealed herself. She knew we couldn't win and begged them to spare me,"_

_"Did you even try to fight," Toph asked._

_"Of course, but..." Suyin looked down at the table. "They had a bloodbender. They locked me in a wooden cage and I think they took Lin's virginity,"_

_"You think?"_

_"Well, I know they raped her, but I don't know if she has done anything with Tenzin yet," Suyin said._

_"Tenzin wanted to wait until marriage," Katara said with tears flowing freely down her face while Toph listened with a stone cold expression on hers._

_"I'm sorry," Suyin said slumping in her chair. Toph said nothing, but Katara could tell she was severely bothered and angry. "I was stupid and naive. Lin's right. I should have known not to trust them. I am a Beifong. I am just a trophy to them to be used and abused. I was a fool for thinking they cared about me..." Toph raised a hand silencing her younger daughter._

_"Why wouldn't Lin be honest with me?" Toph asked._

_"Maybe because she is traumatized? Maybe because one of her greatest dreams/fantasies has been shattered? Maybe because all of her efforts to do good in the world are ignored. Lin may be tough, Toph, but she is still only human. She is not a machine. She has feelings," Katara said. "For once, use your ears and not your feet, that way you'll be able to see just how hurt she is!" Katara swept out of the kitchen and went straight to Lin's room._

_"Why don't you come to the island, Lin, so I can make you some real food. The fresh air would be good for you. I'll send someone to change the linens on your bed. It's not healthy to stay here,"_

_"Thank you, Aunt Katara," Lin said as Katara helped her out to a sato mobile. Suyin watched them go. When her sister entered the sunlight of the outside, she noticed just how pale she had become from the blood loss. She looked like a ghost of a human being. Her eyes were distant, and her arms still shaking. Every sound made her flinch. She was a shadow of a human being._

* * *

**Present Day**

Hours passed since Opal ended the fight between the Beifong sisters. Lin had barricaded herself in the guest house and fortified the perimeter with jagged spikes while Suyin barricaded herself on the front door step of the guest house and fortified her small perimeter with metal panels from the courtyard.

Nobody really knew what to do with either women.

"Su, Honey, will you be joining us for dinner, tonight?" Baatar called through the metal panels.

"Not hungry," Suyin called back though the metal walls from where she sat with her knees held tight against her chest.

"Alright, we'll be sure to save some for you and Lin to eat later," Baatar said walking back to the main house to join the rest of the family, and all of their guests for dinner.

The sun had set and the domes had been risen for the night when Wing and Wei thought they would try getting through to Lin or Su.

"Mom? Uh... we're getting kind of worried. It's not normal to sleep outside. It could rain or something and then you'd get sick and..." Wei called knocking on the metal panel with his brother standing beside them.

 _Rain? Really? With the domes? You've got to be kidding me!_  Suyin thought to herself. Annoyed, she earthbent a ripple to hit her son's foot, not hard enough to hurt him, but big enough to startle him. Wei shrieked and leapt into his brother's arm. Any other time, Su would have laughed at Wei's reaction. She always enjoyed playing with the twins, but not today. All she could think of was her sister, and all of the stress and pain she caused the older woman in her lifetime. She regretted everything.

* * *

In the parlor of the main house, Baatar sat reading a newspaper from Republic City.

"Dad," Opal called letting herself into the parlor.

"Yes, Sweetie?" Baatar asked setting down his newspaper, extending an arm, inviting his daughter to sit with him.

"I just wanted to ask you what you know about Mom and Aunt Lin. I am really worried about them both and wanted to see if there's any way I can help. Mom has never skipped out on a meal as long as I've known her and Aunt Lin seems so... hurt." Opal told her father.

"You're right, and I am glad you say hurt and not mean. Your mother and Aunt Lin have a very complicated past, but I am not sure it is my story to divulge to you, Opal. I am sorry," Baatar replied holding her tight as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Just as Opal was about to close her eyes, the door to the parlor swung open and Suyin entered.

"MOM!" Opal leapt up and ran over to hug her.

"Hi, Honey," Suyin said weakly, patting her girl on the back.

"You've been crying!" Opal declared noting the streaks of eyeliner that ran down her mother's face.

"I hurt Lin," Suyin said looking past Opal and straight to Baatar, not wanting to burden her daughter with the trials of her own past. "And I am not talking about just today," Suyin sighed walking towards the couch across from her husband with Opal clinging stubbornly to her arm.

"What happened?" Opal asked.

Suyin let out a heavy sigh and rested her elbows on her knees while Opal remained latched onto her arm.

"We were all each other had then, when we were kids, in terms of family. Mom grew up with so many restrictions that she let us sort of take our lives in our own hands and 'figure it out' I guess. She kept herself so busy with work that it often fell on Lin to respond to school's complaints and try to discipline me. I was a terrible kid who did everything I could to drive her crazy and I guess, prove myself different. I was stupid, naive, and one night, my choices and actions cost Lin everything," Suyin replied.

"How do you mean?" Opal asked.

It was an innocent question coming from such an innocent girl. Suyin paused to think. No, she wouldn't burden her daughter with that dark part of hers and Lin's history. "Lin was nineteen, and a full fledged cop. I was thirteen and as stupid as a girl could be. I pledged my loyalty to the Terra Triad. I promised them that I would drop out of school and become a messenger or security guard or something. I was hell bent on spending the rest of my days terrorizing my sister, for no reason..."

Opal gasped.

"I agreed to go on a date with one of the leaders and, and Lin came, to protect me. I didn't register risks very well back then and let her give up everything for me. I think that coming here, hearing my voice, has caused some of those awful memories to resurface."

"But you've changed! You're not a part of the Terra Triad! You're the matriarch of a city and you have a family! You've taught us everything we know and that has to count for something!" Opal cried.

Suyin took a deep breath. "I am not sure that is enough. I am not sure anything will ever be enough for Lin to forgive me," Suyin said.

"Then don't seek out forgiveness," Baatar suggested. Suyin and Opal both looked up, puzzled. "You cannot change the past. What has been done is done. Accept what is and find some middle ground with Lin. It will take time, but actions always speak louder than words. Don't let her walk out of your life again even though you were the one who asked her to in the first place."

"You asked her to walk out of your life?"

Suyin looked down. "It is one of my greatest regrets. I told her to leave me alone, leave my life and if she didn't then I would leave my life. After everything she'd done for me, I said that in a moment of blind rage. She simply blinked and said 'If that is what will truly make you happy, fine.' And thirty years passed with nothing," Suyin said. "All she wanted was for me to be safe and happy."

Opal was at a loss for words. Her own mother had taken advantage of, and then abandoned, her own sister in some quest for some superficial freedom? It was almost too horrible to believe. But Opal knew her mom! Or thought she did. She wouldn't lie about this kind of thing. Not now! Or at least, she didn't think her mother would. She wasn't sure anymore. Her thoughts were running wild. But still, that old Su was not woman who raised Opal. That old Su was not the mother Opal knew and loved. That old Su was gone. Right?

"If you will both excuse me, I think I should retire early. I have a feeling getting through tomorrow won't be easy," Suyin said standing up, slowly sliding her daughter's hands off of her arm.

"Sleep well, Sweetie," Baatar said rising from his couch to come around the table to hug his wife.

"Thank you. You too," Suyin replied kissing him before hugging and kissing Opal good night as well.

* * *

"Uhh, so who is going to knock?" Korra asked pushing Bolin towards the door to Lin's guest house the next day, after the jagged spikes had returned to the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Not me! You're the Avatar, why can't you do it?" Bolin asked.

"Uhh, I can. But I just thought that ..." Korra tried to explain.

"I'll do it," Mako announced impatiently raising his hand to the door. "Uhh, Chief, you've been sleeping for sixteen hours. We just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

Just then the ground began to rumble. Korra, Bolin and Mako hurriedly stepped back, Mako tripping and falling off the front steps as the door opened. "Good morning," Lin said nodding to the three bewildered teenagers, before passing them. They watched her go with their mouths agape wondering when on earth Lin procured some Zaofu clothing for herself and why on earth she decided now to wear anything other than her uniform.

* * *

"Heard ya skipped out on dinner last night. You must be starving now!" Suyin's pirate chef said to Lin as she entered the dining room.

"Actually, if I could just have something light, that would be very nice," Lin replied softly.

"Alright! I'll see what I can whip up for you!" the chef said disappearing for mere seconds before returning with a rather mysterious, vomit-colored drink.

"What's this?"

"I call it the kalenutsco. It's a mixture of kale, coconut water, and walnuts!" the chef proclaimed proudly.

Lin gazed at it for an instant before downing the drink. "Hm... Not bad!" Just past the chef, motion caught Lin's eye.

"Opal, don't go. Please sit down. I want to talk to you. Look, I'm really not comfortable talking about these things and I just— well, I wanted to apologizing for lashing out at you the other night."

"It's okay," Opal replied.

"No. It isn't." Lin's authoritative voice insisted while her green eyes narrowed. Opal winced. Noticing she scared the young airbender, Lin retreated, folding her hands in her own lap and looked away from the girl. "Your mother and I have a very... complicated relationship and I shouldn't have taken out my anger with her on you."

"I think I understand why it's so difficult for you to be here," Opal confessed. "Last night mother told me about what happened between you two and why you fell apart,"

"She did?" Lin asked looking up curiously.  _How could she betray me so? Again?_

"But I don't think she told me the whole thing." Opal added. Lin let out a sigh of relief. "She told me how she joined the Terra Triad when you were a cop and how you just wanted to protect her because she's family. I understand that and I think she does too, now. She told me how she never listened to you and it ended up costing you 'everything'. And even after, she told you to stay out of her life. All you wanted was for her to be alive and happy in spite of all she'd done and for that, I really admire you, Aunt Lin. I think we're alike in that matter. I would do anything to keep my family happy. Maybe... maybe that's why I want to stay here even if it means missing out on the opportunity to train with Master Tenzin at the Northern Air Temple." Opal looked down instantly regretting part, well most of what she said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for confiding in a stranger. Sure, Aunt Lin was blood, but she still didn't know anything of the woman other than stories from her mother and grandmother, and even those may have been lies after hearing at least partial truths the previous night.

"You're a smart young woman, and an excellent airbender, Opal. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to train with the other airbenders at the Northern Air Temple."

"I know and I want to go! But I also don't want to upset my mom by leaving my family.

"When I was younger, all I wanted to do was please my mother. I became a police chief because I thought it would make her happy ... but it didn't. I gave up my friends, my opportunity for a family, my independence to do a job I never really wanted in the first place. Don't make the same mistakes I did and waste your life trying to please somebody else. You need to make your decisions based on what you want or else you will live a life of misery. And remember something Opal, if you're worried about your mom, those we love are never truly gone, but remain with us, in here," Lin said pointing to Opal's heart.

Opal thought for a moment and exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding, slumping slightly in her chair. "Thank you, Aunt Lin," she said hugging the woman. "For everything."

* * *

Lin walked through the garden trying in vain to clear her mind of the pain of regret. There was so much she could have handled differently and so many things she shouldn't have said. Her walk lead her to a statue of her mother. Suyin always did worship Toph even if she never really showed it. It must have hurt when Toph exiled her from the United Republic, Lin thought. It hurt all of them.

"Opal has decided to go to the Northern Air Temple. I am guessing you had something to do with her decision," Suyin said approaching her big sister as cautiously as possible, trying her best to not sound confrontational.

"Well, I was just ...Trying to be honest with her... and myself." Lin said looking up at the statue.

"It's okay. I'm glad she was honest with me. I want her to do what makes her happy. Mom gave us too much freedom, but I am starting to feel like I made the mistake of giving Opal too little. I think it's about time I let her choose her own way," Suyin said closing her eyes for a moment to feel the earth before opening them again. "I know no apology could make amends for what I've done to you, so I thought instead, I should say thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me like mom did. Thank you for tolerating my insolence for years, and for saving me from killing myself before I knew the finality of death. I can't imagine what my life would've been like if you hadn't arrested me that day, and if Mom hadn't sent me away, if I had stayed in the city ..."

"Frankly, you'd probably be in prison, or chained up in some whore house run by the Terra Triad because you're pretty."

Suyin laughed. "You're probably right." Suyin said also looking up at the statue of their mother for a moment before returning her gaze to Lin. "Mako told me that you're an excellent police chief. Republic City is lucky to have you. I know Mom is proud," she shared before wrapping her arms around her sister's shoulders, reveling in the lack of armor. Lin tensed, adverse to physical contact. "Can we move on? I'd love for you to be part of my life again. If not for my sake, then the children's. There's plenty of space in the house, and the they would love having their aunt around."

"Whoa! Slow it down. I'm not sure I'm ready to just end Mom's legacy in Republic City. How about for now, I just promise not to show up at your house and attack you again?" Lin asked offering her hand for a shake.

"Deal!" Suyin took it and squeezed before pulling her sister into a hug.

Lin froze at first before closing her arms around her little sister for the first time since the younger was probably three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> And that pretty much wraps up my rewrite. I'm really sorry because I am not really proud of this chapter, in terms of word choice and refinement, but I can't really see it getting any better with time. Regardless, I hope I managed to accomplish everything on my checklist for the chapter.
> 
> \- Baatar being the source of Suyin's reason (because on her own she is kind of insane)  
> \- Su doesn't apologize(not because she is a bitch but because she is older and wiser and understands mere words won't be enough), but at least acknowledges the severity of her own crimes (kind of)  
> \- Su acknowledges the significance of Lin's sacrifices for her  
> \- Lin realizes how she, in a way, chained herself to her mother's legacy with the police, and encourages Opal to choose her own path...
> 
> Let me know what you think of this rewrite. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the original episode especially if you consider Lin Beifong one of your favorite characters.
> 
> Side note: I think she had so much potential, but they kind of dumbed her down after Season 1. also feel like the creators simplified her fighting style in an attempt to make fans like Suyin more. (like that cartwheel spinning upside down on the roof of the probending stadium and her front flip and launch onto the mecha suit under the Sato mansion and the fight with the equalists in episode 10. She was so epic then and then in the fight against Kuvira, only got to break a couple rocks, throw one kick and maybe two punches. It was sad.)

**Author's Note:**

> As always, all feedback is greatly appreciated, so don't be afraid to hmu in those comments with all of your thoughts on the fanfic or just characters from LoK in general. Have a great day :)))


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